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Cheap dependable car

Never owned a foreign till one was given to us. 27 year old Toyota Camry. Other than basic service that car runs like a Timex watch.Been driving it for 6 years now.
Still have a PT Cruiser that is 15 years old.No where as dependable as the Toyota.
Had to replace many parts even the gas tank that has a non serviceable vent.Could not fill the tank unless you trickled the gas in.
Check engine light usually comes on about 6-10 weeks since new. ? Never shows a code.Always a false code.
Still love it and will drive it till the wheels fall off.
 
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Never owned a foreign till one was given to us. 27 year old Toyota Camry. Other than basic service that car runs like a Timex watch.Been driving it for 6 years now.
Still have a PT Cruiser that is 15 years old.No where as dependable as the Toyota.
Had to replace many parts even the gas tank that has a non serviceable vent.Could not fill the tank unless you trickled the gas in.
Check engine light usually comes on about 6-10 weeks since new. ? Never shows a code.Always a false code.
Still love it and will drive it till the wheels fall off.
Im working on a 2001 toyota 4 runner w 300,000 miles on it. It had the ORIGINAL timing belt! So cracked it could fail any time, but it still ran. Absolutely no leaks except a front axle leak. Changed my mind on this era of toyotas...
 
I've had a 2000 camry for a bunch of years. Hardly anything has gone wrong until about 195K. Car picked up a really bad vibration on the highway at cruise or under power. Not apparent on decel/no load. CV's appear solid. Just regular maint. on the car.

Got an engine light, think it's a stuck open T-stat as it isn't warming up like normal and tends to be on the cold side of gauge.
 
Hondas seem to have head gasket issues.
We all have our good and bad experiences with vehicles. I got my daughter a used, low mileage Honda CRV some years ago that drove me nuts with oil consumption! Quart every 1,000 miles or sometimes more. Looked this problem up on the web and multiple-dozens of complaints. Contacted Honda and they say a qt per 1,000 miles is 'acceptable'. Really? So if ya change your oil every 3,000 it's fine to be three quarts down running on two? WDF. Took it to the dealership and they say run a qt of trans oil in it, aha, motor burned thru that too. And the X-warranty platinum coverage, go figger...didn't cover carboned up rings. It was like they knew what not to cover with this pos.
Always being buy American I finally opted to get an '07 used Hyundai Sonata (6 motor though) back in '09. This car was the least hassle ride I ever had and later got an '09 with the 6 being the last year the Sonata came with the 6. Handed off the '07 to my daughter some years ago who's still driving it with 203k on it getting the worst kind of driving a car can get - she lives in the city with crappy streets. I drove a rental 4 motor and didn't notice that big of difference with fuel consumption but was doggier than the 6. Inexpensive ride I'd suggest.
 
We all have our good and bad experiences with vehicles. I got my daughter a used, low mileage Honda CRV some years ago that drove me nuts with oil consumption! Quart every 1,000 miles or sometimes more. Looked this problem up on the web and multiple-dozens of complaints. Contacted Honda and they say a qt per 1,000 miles is 'acceptable'. Really? So if ya change your oil every 3,000 it's fine to be three quarts down running on two? WDF. Took it to the dealership and they say run a qt of trans oil in it, aha, motor burned thru that too. And the X-warranty platinum coverage, go figger...didn't cover carboned up rings. It was like they knew what not to cover with this pos.
Always being buy American I finally opted to get an '07 used Hyundai Sonata (6 motor though) back in '09. This car was the least hassle ride I ever had and later got an '09 with the 6 being the last year the Sonata came with the 6. Handed off the '07 to my daughter some years ago who's still driving it with 203k on it getting the worst kind of driving a car can get - she lives in the city with crappy streets. I drove a rental 4 motor and didn't notice that big of difference with fuel consumption but was doggier than the 6. Inexpensive ride I'd suggest.
Chinese Recreational Vehicles are sometimes not very good. :D
 
Chinese Recreational Vehicles are sometimes not very good. :D
Yeah, my kid loves her ’06 CRV as it had the side-swing door for hauling her dogs and swing down console. Quirks that appeal. It’s been mostly trouble-free except for the oil consumption and I’ve reminded her to check it often as the idiot light doesn’t come on, lol maybe it will when empty. I have little doubt I may have saved her a seized engine more than once checking it when she’s forgotten to do it. Aha, wow, 3 quarts down before driving 230 miles home in 90-degree weather. The issue with this motor seems to be bad rings an inherent flaw…so I’ve read up on. Another lol, she wants to keep it forever!
Why...didn't I think of THIS when I had my '70 Cuda back in the 70's???
 
Older Toyota Camry with 4 cylinder. Older Toyota Echo or Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix or maybe a Celica or Coralla. Another choice might be a late 90s early 2000s Nissan Sentra or (Pre 2002) Altima with the 4 cylinder. One last choice might be mid 90s or early 2000s Nissan Maxima try to find a lower mileage one. Won't be as easy on gas but, you could the 2003 with 6 speed manual. 2003 was the last year for the Japanese built Maxima's but, even then Nissan's quality was already suffering due to a merger with Renault that happened a few years earlier.
 
Good luck as the OP is in New York and a cheap car there will probably have 1/2 the sheet metal rusted right off of it. I see many cars drive around up there and can't believe they are allowed on the highways..
 
The biggest thing with the earlier 2000s Hondas was the Automatic Transmission had issues and not sure about the later years. I know this because when I was younger I was planning on upgrading my 1989 Honda Legend Coupe to an 2003ish Acura CL Type S. Even the ones from the later 90s with the 3.0 Honda and automatic were not immune. I also forgot the Toyota Solara which is a coupe version pretty much of the Camry.
 
We all have our good and bad experiences with vehicles. I got my daughter a used, low mileage Honda CRV some years ago that drove me nuts with oil consumption! Quart every 1,000 miles or sometimes more. Looked this problem up on the web and multiple-dozens of complaints. Contacted Honda and they say a qt per 1,000 miles is 'acceptable'. Really? So if ya change your oil every 3,000 it's fine to be three quarts down running on two? WDF. Took it to the dealership and they say run a qt of trans oil in it, aha, motor burned thru that too. And the X-warranty platinum coverage, go figger...didn't cover carboned up rings. It was like they knew what not to cover with this pos.
Always being buy American I finally opted to get an '07 used Hyundai Sonata (6 motor though) back in '09. This car was the least hassle ride I ever had and later got an '09 with the 6 being the last year the Sonata came with the 6. Handed off the '07 to my daughter some years ago who's still driving it with 203k on it getting the worst kind of driving a car can get - she lives in the city with crappy streets. I drove a rental 4 motor and didn't notice that big of difference with fuel consumption but was doggier than the 6. Inexpensive ride I'd suggest.



I bought a brand new Honda Accord Coupe V6 I think about 2006/7 any way it was going through oil like crazy with 20k miles check engine light would go on and off finally it stayed on. It had been using around a qt every 1000 and Honda told me same thing, that it was OK, Bull ****. After they replaced some injectors that were screwed up due to oil consumption and they did something to the computer program to reduce oil consumption, at least that's what they told me. It was ok but after maybe another 6-7000 miles the check engine started to come on and go off. The light was on and I drove to dealer again and after leaving it there for the day they told me they couldn't fix anything because the light had went off while they had it so no codes. Well **** that, I traded it in on a Hyundai and will never own another Honda. They are out of their friggin minds saying a qt every 1000 is acceptable. I also looked on the internet and I was shocked at all the people with the exact same complaint
 
I bought a brand new Honda Accord Coupe V6 I think about 2006/7 any way it was going through oil like crazy with 20k miles check engine light would go on and off finally it stayed on. It had been using around a qt every 1000 and Honda told me same thing, that it was OK, Bull ****. After they replaced some injectors that were screwed up due to oil consumption and they did something to the computer program to reduce oil consumption, at least that's what they told me. It was ok but after maybe another 6-7000 miles the check engine started to come on and go off. The light was on and I drove to dealer again and after leaving it there for the day they told me they couldn't fix anything because the light had went off while they had it so no codes. Well **** that, I traded it in on a Hyundai and will never own another Honda. They are out of their friggin minds saying a qt every 1000 is acceptable. I also looked on the internet and I was shocked at all the people with the exact same complaint
Wish I had looked at reviews BEFORE buying it knowing I could’ve done this. I’m more picky doing this since with most things of sig cost I’m looking to buy. With all the used lower mileage cars I’ve had often getting an extended warranty; it has worked out very well saving me thousands: Head gasket on my ’03 Intrigue at 50k…Caddy dealer had to repair cuz my shop wouldn’t touch Cad built motors, $4,800 covered. My ’97 Dodge 1500 trans went at 78k my warranty was set to expire in 3 months…$2900 covered.

With the CRV opted for the best warranty as my daughter was going to move to Miami a few months later for a job at the time. When it drilled down to this friggin problem was shocked how that best-pricy warranty so deftly excluded the particular problem the motor had.

No doubt there’s a bunch of happy Honda owners and all fine not having had these hassles; but the way I was effed and given the BS on ‘normal oil consumption’? I seriously debated this BS with them about all the various rides I’ve owned never having this problem. I asked them if it was ‘acceptable’ if changing the oil, as recommend every 3k, would then have the motor running on two quarts by change time. Reply “Well you should be checking your oil frequently.” I laughed and said “Well really, at this rate adding three qts of new oil btw changes shouldn’t require a friggin change every 3k then huh?” I was peeved.

Wrote back to the Honda people I chatted with saying ya lost me forever as a future customer and wouldn’t suggest a Honda to someone I didn’t like. They obviously skirted this as these vehicles (of the era) should have been recalled.
 
For me I appreciate Japanese cars. But then I usually have bought new or close to it and drive them forever. I think the Honda and Toyota are tops. I’m actually a Lexus guy now. Have two - one of them is 2003 ES 300. 20 years old with only 114k on it. Probably pretty difficult to find one with that low of miles but they’re only going for around $4-5k. I’ve had a few Hondas but again new or close to and I take care of them - last forever. Toyota’s and Hondas that’s my .02 for you.
 
For me I appreciate Japanese cars. But then I usually have bought new or close to it and drive them forever. I think the Honda and Toyota are tops. I’m actually a Lexus guy now. Have two - one of them is 2003 ES 300. 20 years old with only 114k on it. Probably pretty difficult to find one with that low of miles but they’re only going for around $4-5k. I’ve had a few Hondas but again new or close to and I take care of them - last forever. Toyota’s and Hondas that’s my .02 for you.

The only thing that is bad is some of the Toyota and Lexus vehicles from 1997-2001/2002 had oil sludging problems. This forum post has information and additional links for the said problem. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es...78-1997-2001-es300-engine-sludge-problem.html
 
Older Toyota Camry with 4 cylinder. Older Toyota Echo or Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix or maybe a Celica or Coralla. Another choice might be a late 90s early 2000s Nissan Sentra or (Pre 2002) Altima with the 4 cylinder. One last choice might be mid 90s or early 2000s Nissan Maxima try to find a lower mileage one. Won't be as easy on gas but, you could the 2003 with 6 speed manual. 2003 was the last year for the Japanese built Maxima's but, even then Nissan's quality was already suffering due to a merger with Renault that happened a few years earlier.
I used to work at Nissan back in the day, and I got my brother hooked on maximas..a 97, 01, then the 03 he still has. They put the new 3.5 in last year of that body, kind of a unicorn. Of course with that kind of power, you have to take it to the track :D
Ended up running a string of 14.70s....bone stock
 
I'd go with any Toyota before any Honda...

I had a couple different GFs that had Honda Civics,
they always had issues,
both blew head gaskets & both had oil consumption issues

I had several mid 80s - early 90s Toyota SR5 Trucks/mostly 4x4s
for DDs for years, tough lil' trucks, I had several, starting in 1984...
I put my daughters in them, with no worries
my 85 SR5 4x4 (precursor to the Tacoma),
1985 was the 1st year EFI in them
it went 389k before it finally died, me & 2 daughters drove it daily,
it finally gave up the ghost, me driving it way too aggressive
it broke a valve, it was ugly...
But $1500 later & a takeout 60k mile 22R Japanese engine,
bolted my acc. on it, intake etc., it ran for another 200K miles
after replacing the rear end, $250 takeout from a buddy
one of the twins Rachel still owns one,
it has over 300k OE engine & her husband loves it too
& absolutely he hated everything about Japanese cars/trucks prior...

It's about the only Import, I would ever recommend

now the cheap part I don't know
 
I had a 2007 nissan sentra, it was a great commuter car. Good on gas, minimal repairs and roomier inside than you would think. Get the 6 speed manual though, these cvt transmissions are garbage imo.
 
I have had 2 civics since 97. 250k miles on first plus that on the second (2010).
I bought a $500, ‘79 Magnum where the original owner stop recording miles @324,000K. He used it for work on a 80 mile round trip in and out of NYC and drive every Continental USA state for vacation with the family of 4 total. He the ngave the car to his daughter for 4 years of collage, then his 4 year younger so. For 4 more years of collage. He then used the car again for commuting in and out of NYC for the next ten years on the same route.

I have no idea how many miles where on that 318 engine but it still ran like a champ and banged on 22 Hwy.

Wanna go far and long?

Get a 318 in your MoPar and go!
 
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